[DeTomaso] Trans Cooler

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/8/12 6 55 25, gow2 at rc-tech.net writes:


> Soon to be looking at setting up in/out ports for trans cooler. Where are
> people tapping into the ZF for the trans cooler?
> 

>>>I have to ask--will you ever be driving your car hard enough, long 
enough, to need such a thing?   It's an enormously complex thing to do properly, 
and very very expensive.

In a Pantera, the pickup is at the bottom of the gearbox (where the drain 
plug normally is).   A short line runs over to the former location of the 
speedometer angle drive.   An oil pump (which incorporates a speedo drive) 
replaces the angle drive.   That pump then propels the oil to the cooler, and 
the outlet from the cooler re-enters the gearbox via the fill plug on the side 
of the case.

>From the GT40 forum, here are links to photos of the pump:

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49892&d=1291234860
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49893&d=1291234860
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49894&d=1291234860
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49895&d=1291234860

Installed on a gearbox:

http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49896&d=1291235443
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=49897&d=1291235443

These parts are available from Jay Cushman in Maine, who is the nation's 
leading supplier of original GT40 parts.   The pump costs $1275.

I suppose you could run an external electric pump though, which would 
simplify matters greatly and reduce costs enormously.   Just take the oil out of 
the bottom and return it through the side filler.

But again, to what end?   While one can seriously make the case for engine 
oil cooling for a car that will be driven extremely hard on the track or at 
open road races, even those cars normally don't see gearbox temperatures 
that would justify cooling the gearbox oil.   If you used a thermostatic 
trigger to turn your electric pump on when the oil reached a temperature that 
justified cooling it, the pump would probably never turn on.   And if you just 
ran it for the hell of it, you'd overcool the oil and it would never heat up 
properly, leading to stiff, unpleasant shifting.

I say to skip the whole idea....

Mike